Traveling the Aviation Trail (Part 2: Finishing My Seven Stops)

I left off in my last blog telling you that I began the Aviation Trail in the summer of 2016. The week after last, one day, I collected the stamps for the Wright Brothers Memorial and Huffman Prairie Flying Field and for the archives in the special collections of the Wright State University Library. The next day I went back out and went to Woodland Cemetery and ended the trail at the National Aviation Heritage Museum. While the trail has about 14 stops total tourists and aviation enthusiast alike can visit, all around the Dayton area or certainly within an hour drive, I opted to hit just seven local spots so I could say I traveled at least half the trail, get the bear, buy him a beer, and finish it so I could go on with my #lifegoalsbucketlist. 

Traveling the Aviation Trail (Part One: The Memphis Belle)

Three summers ago, I began a mission: to complete the Aviation Trail. Completing the trail would require 14 stops around the Dayton area. I found a brochure advertising the trail with an offer that if you completed seven stops, you received a small aviator teddy bear. You visited a spot on the trail and got a stamp. Collect seven, go to the Aviation Heritage Museum outside of downtown Dayton, and the bear is yours. Easy, right?

I figured I'd start there, with the seven, then hopefully, I could go back and visit the other places on the trail. My first three stops were at Carillon Historical Park to see the third Wright Flyer the Wright Brothers flew, the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and the Aviation Hall of Fame (located in the museum). It was easy to obtain those first three stamps because I actually worked at both places the summer of 2016.

Then life got a bit hectic and my mission to finish the trail sat on the back burner of my bucket list. 

Fast forward:

On May 17, 2018, the National Museum of the United States Air Force unveiled the restored, iconic World War II plane, the B-17F Memphis Belle and I was determined to see it. 

Placed on permanent display and open to the public, the museum hosted a three-day event for the public. With books and two movies made about the plane, one can utter the words Memphis Belle and everyone knows what they are talking about. 

Perhaps one of the greatest myths about the plane is that is was the first to fly 25 bomber missions. This is, in fact, untrue. What is true is that it was the first plane to fly 25 missions during the war AND return home to the United States. With a crew that relatively remained the same during those 25 missions, the plane went through several hurdles before it made its way to the museum, where a restoration team worked on it for a good fifteen years.